This is something found in one of my late father in law's sheds. He probably bought it at a garage sale in California's gold country.

It's made of wood dowels and is about 2 1/2 feet tall. There are wood latches that hold the two sides together. The ones on the bottom have a notch on one sice so it can be opened like a clamshell, though not very far. At the top, some of the dowels have small nails or nail holes holding them together.

It doesn't show signs of discoloration as you'd expect if it had been used to dry wet things though that's been suggested. It's a uniform dark color that looks like wood stain was used.